Aan, a critically-endangered orangutan who was blinded after being shot more than 100 times with an air rifle and is to undergo an operation that could restore her sight. (Image: Orangutan Foundation/PA Wire)

A Cambridge veterinarian ophthalmologist hopes to restore the sight of a critically-endangered orangutan who was blinded after being shot more than 100 times with an air rifle.

The plight of Aan captured the hearts of animal-lovers across the world in 2012 after it was revealed that she had been shot 104 times with an air rifle on a palm oil plantation in Indonesian Borneo.

A three-hour operation saw around one third of the pellets removed, but the dozens which hit her eyes blinded her left eye permanently and damaged her right.

An x-ray showing the bullets (Image: Orangutan Foundation/PA Wire)

Unable to forage for food or protect herself, the critically endangered primate has since been cared for by the Orangutan Foundation in an enclosure in the Lamandau River wildlife reserve in Borneo.

While Aan's left eye is beyond repair, Cambridge volunteer veterinarian ophthalmologist Claudia Hartley believes there is a possibility that her sight could be restored in the other - with a simple cataract operation.

Ms Hartley initially felt nothing could be done after seeing X-rays showing the lead pellets that had riddled Aan's underweight body - 37 of which were lodged in her head.

During a visit in September, the 44-year-old discovered there was a "good chance" that the primate could regain enough sight to survive outside captivity.

She said: "I'm really hopeful that actually we may be able to give her vision, and then, even though she will only be one-eyed, she will be able to be released because primates can still forage one-eyed.